The Kempsey Shire Council will make a decision on whether the restrictions continue after collecting data on groundwater levels, one of the most important sources of our water supply.

Level 3 water restrictions have been in place in Kempsey Shire since Friday, July 11, having been lifted earlier in the year after the dry summer.

Kempsey Shire Council Infra­structure Services director Robert Scott said the council would act as soon as the information was available.

“The rain this week has been incredibly timely and we breathed a sigh of relief because our water supplies have been under pressure,” Mr Scott said.

“It is unusual for our water supply to be under this much strain so early in the year during winter.

“It really goes back to probably last November when we started to see the rainfall drop-off.

“We will see if the rain has recharged the groundwater supplies and then we will be able to say whether we can cancel the water restrictions.

“The long-term outlook is for a hot dry summer so we need to be mindful of that.”

Mr Scott said cost was often a bigger factor in reducing demand for water than restricting its use.

“For years I think we have undervalued our water resources in Australia,” he said.

“People are less likely to hose their concrete driveway when they feel it is costing them money.

“We have definitely seen different behaviour during this water restriction period - people have used less water.”

Mr Scott said any decision about lifting water restrictions was unlikely to be made before the middle of next week at the earliest.